Welcome to The Long Island Room’s Online Collection Database!
The Richard H. Handley Collection of Long Island Americana (or Long Island Room) is a special local history archives located within The Smithtown Library's Smithtown Building. The collection is comprised of approximately 9,000 books, 850 maps and over 300 boxes of archival and manuscript materials. Additionally, the collection includes historic atlases, account books, scrapbooks, audiovisual materials, paintings, engravings, photographs, daguerreotypes, tintypes, microfilm, newspapers, postcards, posters, subject files and ephemera.
We encourage you to explore our site and to return often as new records continue to be added. To begin searching, click on the tabs above or on our collections below. Scroll down for tips for searching.
The personal papers of Ella Mathilda Smith (1849-1922) of St. Johnland (now Kings Park), a Smith family descendant and an active member of the Smithtown community. Ella M. Smith was the mother of Faith H. Smith (see the collection below).
The personal papers of Faith Hosmer Smith (1883-1976) of Kings Park, a Smith family descendant and an active member of the Smithtown community. Faith H. Smith was the daughter of Ella M. Smith (see the collection above).
The personal papers of Frank Radau (1907-1994), founder and owner of the Blue Jay Market, an independent grocery store chain established in Smithtown in 1929.
A collection of legal and land ownership documents related to various families who resided in the town of Islip, N.Y., including the Crum family, the Seaman family and the Lane family.
The personal papers of Lawrence Smith Butler (1875-1954), a Smith family descendant, writer, architect and prominent local resident known for his involvement in the establishment of the Smithtown Horse Show.
A collection of photographs and papers related to Commack and the surrounding area collected by Mae E. Shea (1875-1964), a long-time resident of Commack and an active member of the community.
The personal papers of Myron W. Miller (1912-1977), supervising principal of the Hauppauge school system from 1943 until his retirement in 1968, when he was named the district's first superintendent of schools.
The personal papers of Prentice Sanger (1881-1964), a well-known architect and landscape designer based out of New York City. He lived in Smithtown for many years with his second wife.
The personal papers of Richard H. Handley (1848-1914) of Hauppauge, businessman, amateur historian and rare book collector with a keen interest in Long Island history. His collection of rare books and manuscripts served as the foundation of The Smithtown Library’s local history program which is now named in his memory.
A collection of both manuscript and published sermons and addresses by well-known, local ministers including Samuel Buell, Jonathan Edwards, Jupiter Hammon, Joshua Hart, Samson Occum, Ebenezer Phillips, Thomas Romeyn and Aaron Woolworth.
The Keyword Search button allows you to perform a general search across multiple fields for any catalog records online. If you want to find records where both keywords are found, type in AND between the two words. To search for a specific phrase, be sure to put the phrase within quotes. Searches are not case sensitive.
The Advanced Search button can help you be more specific with your search. You can search for a word or phrase within a particular search category or use multiple categories to further narrow down your search results.
The Random Images button is a great way to just browse the collection. Each Random Images page displays a random assortment of images from the records online. If something piques your interest, click the thumbnail to view a larger version of the image.
